SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State women's basketball team fought a hard battle against third-ranked Lubbock Christian, but would come up short despite a fourth-quarter surge from the Belles, losing 65-55 on Thursday night at Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
Angelo State would start the first quarter off well, taking an eight lead over the Lady Chaps, with
Madeline Stephens making two free throws,
Lana Marov and
Sadie Misner both making layups, and
Sawyer Lloyd making a jump shot to put the Belles on top just over three minutes into the first quarter. Lubbock Christian would quickly cut down the Belles lead down to two points after several layups and two free throws would bring the score to 8-6.
True freshman
Madisen Honea would score her first collegiate points after making a layup to extend the Belles' lead back up to four points, 10-6. Several layups and three-pointers from the Lady Chaps would take the lead from the Belles, ending the first quarter with a five-point advantage over Angelo State, 17-12.
A layup from Misner would cut the Lady Chaps lead to five, but a foul would cause Lubbock Christian to go to the free-throw line and bring the lead back to seven points, 21-14. Lubbock Christians lead would continue to grow to double digits, with several layups bringing the Lady Chaps lead to 11 points over the Belles, but seven straight points from Lloyd would bring the Belles within four points with less than five minutes to go in the half, 25-21.
The Lady Chaps defense would keep the Belles from scoring for the rest of the second quarter up until the last second of the game, growing their lead back into double digits to hold a 14 point lead over ASU, but a three-pointer from Lloyd would end the half with the Belles trailing Lubbock Christian by 11, 35-24.
Lubbock Christian would return to the court at the start of the third quarter rejuvenated, scoring a layup in the first 30 seconds of the quarter to bring their lead back up to 13, but two three-pointers from Lloyd and true freshman
Jade Mbam would once again cut the Lady Chaps lead back down to a single digit, trailing the Lady Chaps by seven with eight minutes left in the quarter, 37-30.
LCU would grow their lead back into double digits, at one point holding an 18 point lead over the Belles, but several free throws from Misner and Mbam would cut the Lady Chaps lead to 13 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter with 8:14 left on the clock. Two separate occasions of the Belles defense keeping the Lady Chaps from scoring would give Misner ample opportunities to drive the paint, getting fouled several times resulting in multiple free throws, to bring the Belles within 10 points of the Lady Chaps lead before time would run to bring the game to an end, 65-55 in favor of Lubbock Christian.
The Belles finished the day shooting 36 percent from the field, 28 percent from the three-point line, and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line, while holding the Lady Chaps to 40 percent from the field and 36 percent from the three-point line. Lloyd would lead the Belles offensively, scoring 19 points and shooting 7-11 from the field, with true freshman Misner hot on her heels with 18 points, shooting 5-8 from the field and a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line. Stephens would grab 11 rebounds for the Belles, one on offense and 10 on defense, along with scoring four points on the night.
Mbam contributed seven points on the night, while Marov would score five points, shooting 1-3 from the three-point line.
Up Next:
The Belles travel to Lubbock, Texas to face against Lubbock Christian once again in the Rip Griffin Center on Saturday, January 16 at 2 p.m. The Belles will host the Oklahoma Christian Eagles at home on Wednesday, January 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the Junell Center in the Stephens Arena to make up a previous contest.
